Review of 'North by Northwest'

North by Northwest (1959)

A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies; he is pursued by them and has to go on the run in order to survive whilst claiming back his identity.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writer: Ernest Lehman

Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason

In what ways is this a model thriller?

“Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action…”

Examples:

In the car

UN stabbing

Train

Bus stop

Auction scene

Café scene

At the villains hideout

Cliff-hanger (literally)

“A resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains”

Hero:witty, calm, charming, attractive, smart, panics at times and gets slightly flustered

Villian:reserved, smart, incharge/has power

Suspense:bus stop scene.

When Roger Thornhill gets off the buss he’s left in a remote-desert looking place with no one insight. He waits for awhile and spots a plane fertilising some crops. A man appears on the other side of the road on the other bus stop, Thornhill thinks that’s Mr Kaplan, so he goes over only to find out that that’s not Kaplan just an ordinary man waiting for the bus. The man then gets on the bus and when the bus leaves and no one’s in sight Thornhill is then attacked by the plane from earlier, he has to try and avoid this plane and try to survive in order to get help from on-passers.

Red herring:Eva Marie Saint’s character.

When we first meet her on the train she seems like one of the good guys then at the trainstation she makes a call and confirs with Van dame’s right hand man which makes us suspect her and think she’s helping out Van Dame. But we later find out that she was working for the government as their ‘inside man’ and she was good all along.

Cliffhanger:Cliff hanger scene.

The scene is left with Eve Kendall hanging off the cliff (mount Rushmore) for dear life with Thornhill trying to pull her up but looks likee he’s struggling himself to hold on. Then the scene skips to them being married on the train, maybe, home speeding into a tunnel.

“Villian driven plot” Villian in charge throughout the movie, until the end, and throws obstacles in the way which the hero has to react to.

Examples:

When they get Thornhill drunk set him up in the car when he goes for a little drive and theres times we think he’s gonna crash or drive off a cliff.

The UN stabbing, when Thornhill is talking to the real Mr Townsend and then one of Van Dame’s spies murders Mr townsend to keep him quiet before he reveals any valuble information.

On the train Thornhill has to go into hiding because he’s now a fugative and at times is nearly caught by the police but manages to hide. He also bribes one of porters to borrow his clothes and leaves the trainstation unnoticed…

MacGuffin

The MacGuffin is a plot element that drives the story on, everyone has to believe it’s important. The main characters are willing to do whatever to kill or protect the object to keep hold of it, regardless of what the MacGuffin may be. The MacGuffin itself is open to the audience’s interpretation; and is highly important to the plot. The MacGuffin could be: money, power, survival, a threat or something totally unexplained.

The MacGuffin is the central focus at the start of the film but as the film develops the MacGuffin loses its importance, as the characters and their struggles/motivations develop. But the MacGuffin comes back into the film towards the end; but and be forgotten as the main focus is on the characters. As Hitchcock said himself “as to what that object is specifically is the audience don’t care.”